poukledden posted a fine Tolstoy quote:
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
- Leo Tolstoy
aquaeri answered it nicely:
Sweeping generalisation, M. Tolstoy. I’m always trying to figure out how to change myself so I can become someone who can actually change the world.
Mystics start from a valid premise: when two people meet to make peace, at least one of them needs to bring peace. But if any mystics are reading this, I’d like to offer one clue to the secret of the universe: it’s not all about you.
In fact, aqueri’s response summarizes the Mahayana path perfectly, except that he leaves out “for the better,” which is of course a common failing of idealists.
Tolstoy’s worth a read, at least as far in as I’ve gotten. Even if he’s not right about everything, he has at least thought about it and has useful observations to offer.
Oh, I don’t mean to dismiss Tolstoy. I read some of his work decades ago. He’s a smart thinker, and he did brave things, and I should learn more about his experiments before I criticize them thoroughly.
But that quote up there is often used by people who think we’re in the world to hide from it.
That’s not his point at all. His point is the same one that Jesus makes when he says “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”
The point is that it’s really easy for me to see what other people are doing to make the world suck. It’s less easy for me to see what I’m doing to make it suck. And so often people who seek to make the world a better place don’t start out by making themselves a person who has any claim to living in such a place.
Have you seen Serenity yet? (If you haven’t, the question may seem like a non-sequitur.)
Well, Jesus had very practical advice about how to get that mote out, but few Christians seem to be interested in perfection. Or even in heading in the general direction of perfection.
Whedon might disagree, but I think Serenity’s a fine example of how things can go wrong when people are propping up hierarchies of wealth.
Do you really think he would disagree? I thought that was his point! That was the fundamental flaw in the character of the Operative.
He might not. Whedon has that rich liberal fondness for “socialism someday” that results in the occasional nice bit regarding class issues.
Counterpoint: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Ghandi says it is all about you.
Raven, that’s the reason for my vow.